It’s as regular as the trees turning golden and starting to drop their leaves. There’s a chill in the air. And X Factor is back on our TVs – it must be autumn!
With somewhat predictable regularity we find ourselves glued to the TV every Saturday and Sunday night, finding that somehow we do care about these wannabes desperately trying to impress Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger.
You’d think the formula would have bored everyone by now, but, despite a couple of years where ratings dropped, the X Factor shows no signs of slowing down. We’re now into the fourth week of the competition, which means the initial stages of the auditions are over.
Yep, these are the ones with the sob stories, with the crazies, with the weird acts that Louis insists on putting through, and it’s where people start to formulate their favourites. Betting on the X Factor has become absolutely huge over the last few years with many people willing to put cash down on the singers they think will win the competition.
Sites like freebets.org/ are great places to check to find out what the bookies are saying about the latest odds. But now is the time to review the contestants who have made it through to the bootcamp stages and work out who you could be getting behind. Of course, the likely winner may not actually be your favourite but it’s wise to analyse the sob story ratio and go by that – it’s one of the clearest predictors of who will become finalists.
Just look at last year, the final two both had sob stories (dead parent and background as a homeless busker person) and they sailed through, despite the fact that neither of them were actually much cop. So there is much more to picking the winner than simply going for the one with the best voice.
The X Factor is about drama and it’s about pantomime – so if you are planning to place a bet, make sure you go from the angle of who is most likely to cause the judges to bicker and argue. These acts generally last longer.
As to who the winner will be, it’s also a good idea to have a look at the judging panel and work out which one you think is likely to have the winner – remember, for example, that Nicole had the top two in her category last year despite the fact that neither were that good. This could mean she’s one to look out for. Whichever way you make your decision, enjoy the X Factor ride!
This article is an associated post.
